The new target marks a sharp increase from Saab’s previous plan to produce four GlobalEye aircraft annually. Johansson said the company needed additional capacity to protect delivery schedules as prospective orders extend into the next decade.
“I would rather say that we go from two a year now and should aim for six a year in the 2030 timeframe,” Johansson said during Saab’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call. He added that the company would prefer to build capacity for the higher rate because production could be adjusted if demand proved lower than expected.
Canada selected GlobalEye earlier in 2026 and was negotiating with Saab over six aircraft, according to Johansson. NATO has also selected the platform to replace the alliance’s E-3A airborne early-warning fleet at Geilenkirchen, with the potential requirement covering roughly 10 aircraft.
The NATO capability is supported by nine countries and would be operated as a common alliance asset. Johansson described the selection as a major industrial breakthrough and said it demonstrated the strategic value of Sweden and Saab supplying an advanced surveillance capability to NATO.
Saab is expanding its facilities in Linköping, where business jets are converted into missionised GlobalEye aircraft. The company also intends to establish a production and support hub in Canada and is considering an additional European location to serve NATO and other customers.
Johansson said the infrastructure required to reach the higher production rate would not demand exceptionally large investments. Some of the additional capacity could also be developed through industrial partnerships with customer countries.
The planned expansion reflects a pipeline that extends beyond the anticipated NATO and Canadian contracts. Johansson said Saab was pursuing several other opportunities and regarded the commercial case for GlobalEye as substantial, though he did not identify the prospective customers.
GlobalEye is designed to monitor activity across the air, maritime and land domains simultaneously. Johansson said the aircraft’s primary sensor has a range exceeding 650 kilometres, allowing it to operate at a distance from hostile areas.
The platform also carries passive sensors capable of detecting systems observing the aircraft. Information from the different sensors is fused and processed with artificial-intelligence capabilities to give operators a consolidated operational picture.
Johansson described GlobalEye as a networked command-and-surveillance node rather than a standalone intelligence platform. Data collected by the aircraft can be shared with combat aircraft, warships, ground command centres and land-force systems to support strategic and tactical decision-making.
GlobalEye aircraft are already in operational service in the United Arab Emirates, while Saab maintains an active production line. Johansson said that position allowed the company to offer relatively short delivery times and respond to what he described as a significant capability gap among potential customers.
The programme is also commercially important for Saab’s Surveillance business. Johansson said margins on large platforms such as GlobalEye remained strong and that the company intended to capture a larger share of the growing market for airborne surveillance systems.
Saab is separately flight-testing an unmanned airborne early-warning system with General Atomics. The sensor package is being developed for the MQ-9B unmanned aircraft and is intended to complement GlobalEye rather than replace its broader surveillance capability.
Johansson said the unmanned system was already being offered to prospective buyers, although flight testing remained under way. Saab was ready to begin commercial discussions, giving the company a lower-tier surveillance option alongside the expanded GlobalEye programme.
